@katrinavelle.bsky.social
Assistant Professor @ UMass Dartmouth. Interested in actin, amoebae, microscopy, and sciart. she/her
katrinavelle.wixsite.com/science
@gwenlyn.bsky.socialReposted by @katrinavelle.bsky.socialI have modernized and enhanced the NSF COA generator tool. Results now update dynamically • Published under more than one name? Covered! • Other people share your name? No problem! • You prefer searching by ORCID? Go ahead! Give it a try. Feedback, bug reports, feature requests are MOST welcome! 🧪
@anhhle2702.bsky.socialReposted by @katrinavelle.bsky.socialHappy #FluorescenceFriday.
Single immune cell migration is fascinating. But these cells can also behave like a coordinated collective, like 🐝 from a hive. I captured some embryonic myeloid cells (🔴) displaying swarming behaviour in a migrating ectoderm cell sheet (🔵), like neutrophils in our body!
@katrinavelle.bsky.socialHeads up to other October NIH deadliners-- if you didn't do this already it appears you do not have to.
@katrinavelle.bsky.socialEdit: non-animal eukaryote, I did end up throwing in a handful of opisthokonts (F. alba included!)
@katrinavelle.bsky.socialThanks—and I haven’t even told you the best part! On the first day of class, everyone is assigned a non-opisthokont eukaryote to research and make a presentation about. To be extra about it, these are written on colorful index cards and taped under their seats.
@jennkong.bsky.socialReposted by @katrinavelle.bsky.socialIt's the beginning of the school year for us. I don't know about you, but my inbox is full of undergrad requests to join the lab. I can't offer them all positions, so instead I wrote a bit of advice on the process. Feel free to share if you find it helpful.
@katrinavelle.bsky.social(6/6) To wrap up the thread, a favor! The paper I used for cell division last year was a swing and a miss. Anyone have good recs for an undergrad journal club? Something with kymographs and coimmunoprecipitations would be ideal to link class concepts. Thanks!
@katrinavelle.bsky.social(5/6) We end the semester talking about differentiation and multicellularity. This paper by @hansclevers.bsky.social s.bsky.social and others about snake venom gland organoids really captured the attention of the class!
@katrinavelle.bsky.social(4/6) For our cell eating unit, we cover recent work from the Rotty lab featuring microglia in confinement.
This builds on the cell migration unit, as authors show phagocytosis can increase persistence.
@katrinavelle.bsky.social(3/6) Next, a paper for our cell migration unit from the Paluch lab.
This reinforces concepts we cover like blebbing vs lamellar protrusions, Rho and Rac pathways, small molecule inhibitors, and surface adhesions.
@katrinavelle.bsky.social(2/6) First up:
a paper from @drmichaelway.bsky.social’s lab on Arp2/3 isocomplexes & inhibitors.
This follows a unit on actin, and features concepts we cover like nucleation, pathogens as tools, small molecule inhibitors, TIRF, and pyrene assays.
@katrinavelle.bsky.socialIn case it is useful for anyone out there, here’s a thread of papers that have worked well for journal clubs in my advanced cell bio class (~15 undergrads + 5 grad students) Please add your own favorites, or your own work if you think it’s suitable! (1/6)
@drmichaelway.bsky.socialReposted by @katrinavelle.bsky.socialArp2/3 iso-complexes strike again! Axonal actin ring assembly and maintenance involves different iso-complexes that change expression during neuronal maturation 🎉 Great collaboration with Ana Rita Costa & Monica Sousa @ i3S in Porto www.i3s.up.pt/research-gro... www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
@katrinavelle.bsky.socialYup- I just got this warning in Cayuse.
@katrinavelle.bsky.socialThat middle amoeba in S9 keeps trying to stand up! You can do it little buddy!
@katrinavelle.bsky.social… is the red actin? Are you okay, @cytoskeljournal.bsky.social? Can I draw you some things to use instead? This makes me sad.
@katrinavelle.bsky.socialLove free to publish. Don’t love AI microtubules. I think this creature will haunt my nightmares…
@katrinavelle.bsky.socialI’m gonna choose to believe that Barbara McClintock took to illustrating Fraggle Rock books in between maize growing seasons. I will not fact check this.
@reitergroup.bsky.socialReposted by @katrinavelle.bsky.socialWhat in the world am I looking at here? @Nikon? www.nikonsmallworld.com/galleries/20...
@focalplane.bsky.socialReposted by @katrinavelle.bsky.socialDon’t miss the second webinar in our new series on cell migration, featuring talks from @ankita13jha.bsky.social, @raphclement.bsky.social and @katrinavelle.bsky.social.
🗓️Thursday 17 September at 15:00 BST
For more info and to register: focalplane.biologists.com/2026/09/03/f...
